With Pope Francis lying, all eyes now turn to the conclave, the secret meeting of the cardinals would be summoned in a matter of days to choose a new head of the Catholic Church.
Together with the world leaders and the reigning monarchs, it is estimated that 400,000 people went on Saturday for the funeral of the Argentine pontiff in the Vatican and the burial in Rome.
The crowds were a testimony of Francis’s popularity, an energetic reformer who defended the poorest and most vulnerable.
Many of the mourning to the late Pope, who died Monday at age 88, expressed anxiety for who would happen.
“He ended up transforming the church into something more normal, more human,” said Romina Cacciatore, 48, an Argentine translator who lives in Italy.
“I’m worried about what is coming.”
On Monday morning, at 9:00 am (0700 GMT), the cardinals will hold their fifth general meeting from the death of the Pope, which is expected to choose a date for the conclave.
Certificate behind closed doors in the Fresco Sistine Chapel, the choice of a Pope has been subject to public fascination for centuries.
Cardinal voters will issue four votes per day until a candidate ensures a two -thirds majority, a result transmitted to the world of waiting burning documents that emit white smoke.
Luxembourg Cardinal, Jean-Claude Hollerich, said last week that he expected the conclave to take place on May 5 or 6, shortly after nine days of papal grieving, which ends on May 4.
The German Cardinal Reinhard Marx told journalists on Saturday that the conclave would last only “a few days.”
He left his brand
Francis’s funeral was held in the Plaza de San Pedro under the bright spring sun, a mixture of solemn ceremony and an effusion of emotion for the first Latin American Pope of the Church.
More crowds gathered on Sunday for the opening of the public visualization of their simple marble tomb in the Basilica of Santa María Maggiore, their favorite church in Rome.
Francis was buried in a bedroom of the Church, becoming the first Pope in more than a century to be buried outside the Vatican.
“It was very emotional” to see her grave, said the Peruvian Tatiana Alva, 49, who cleaned the tears after joining hundreds of people who exceeded the place of burial.
“He was very kind, humble. He used the language that young people could understand. I don’t think the next Pope can be the same, but I hope he has an open mind and be realistic about the world challenges at this time.”
A couple of hours after the opening, the Big Basilica was full, the crowds periodically shut up on the speakers.
Among the mourners were pilgrims and young Catholic groups who had planned to attend the Sunday canonization of Carlo Acutis, which was postponed after Francis died.
Raphael de Mas Latrie, 45, from France, had been taking his nine -year -old son to the canonization, but attended the funeral, saying that they “really appreciated” the defense of Francis’s environment.
“Today in this material world, his message made a lot of sense, particularly for young people,” he said.
He added that Francis’s successor did not have to be his similarity, since “every Pope has a message for today’s world.”
In his homily at the funeral, Cardinal Giovanni Battista re highlighted the defense of the migrants of the Jesuit Pope, called relentless for peace and belief that the Church was a “home for all.”
“I hope we have another Pope as skilled as Francis to talk to people’s hearts, in being close to each person, no matter who they are,” said Maria Simoni, 53, from Rome.
Many of the mourners expressed their hope that the next Pope would follow Francis’s example, at a time of generalized global conflict and growing right -wing populism.
Marx said the debate about the next Pope was open, adding: “It is not a matter of being conservative or progressive … the new Pope must have a universal vision.”
Pray for ourselves
More than 220 of the 252 Cardinals of the Church were on Saturday’s funeral. They will meet again Sunday afternoon in Santa María Maggiore to present their respects in Francis’s tomb.
There will also be a mass in the Basilica of San Pedro at 10:30 am (0830 GMT) on Sunday, directed by Pietro Parolin, who was Secretary of State under Francisco and is a favorite to become the next Pope.
Only cardinals under 80 are eligible to vote in the conclave. There are currently 135 are eligible, most of which Francis named himself.
But experts warn against assuming that they will choose someone like him.
Francis, a former archbishop of Buenos Aires who loved to be among his flock, was a very different character for his predecessor Benedict XVI, a most suitable German theologian for books than kissing babies.
Benedict in turn was a marked change of his Polish predecessor, the charismatic, athletic and very popular John Paul II.
Francis’s changes triggered anger among many conservative Catholics and many of them expect the next Pope to focus the focus on doctrine.
Some cardinals have admitted the weight of the responsibility facing them when choosing a new chief of the 1,400 million Catholics in the world.
“We feel very small,” Hollerich said last week. “We have to make decisions for the whole Church, so we really need to pray for ourselves.”
